Politics of Malaysia takes place in the framework of a federal representative democratic constitutional monarchy, in which the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is head of state and the Prime Minister of Malaysia is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the federal government and the 13 state governments. Legislative power is vested in the federal parliament and the 13 state assemblies. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature, though the executive maintains a certain level of influence in the appointment of judges to the courts.
The United Malays National Organisation ; abbreviated UMNO or less commonly PEKEMBAR, is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest national political party within Malaysia, UMNO has been known as Malaysia's "Grand Old Party".
The Malaysian People's Party is a political party in Malaysia. Founded on 11 November 1955 as Partai Ra'ayat, it is one of the older political parties in Malaysia and traces its pedigree to the anti-colonial movements from the pre World War II period like the Kesatuan Melayu Muda.
Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM) was the first leftist and national political establishment in British Malaya. Founded by Ibrahim Yaacob and Ishak Haji Muhammad, KMM grew into a prominent pre-war nationalist movement, notable for its leftist political stance and willingness to use violence, a sharp break with their contemporaries in the Malay nationalist movement.
Abdul Aziz bin Ishak (1915–1999) was a Malaysian freedom fighter, politician and journalist. Aziz was, in fact, the only member of the pre-war Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM) to have served in the 1955 and post-Merdeka Cabinets under Tunku Abdul Rahman. Between 1955 and 1963, he was the Minister for Agriculture and Co-operatives, where his efforts in rural development to improve the lives of padi farmers and fishermen were important although less known compared with similar efforts undertaken by the Rural Development Ministry.
Ahmad Boestamam, or Abdullah Thani bin Raja Kechil, was a Malaysian freedom fighter, politician and was the founding president of Parti Rakyat Malaysia and Parti Marhaen Malaysia.
Shamsiah Fakeh was a Malaysian nationalist and feminist. She was the leader of Angkatan Wanita Sedar (AWAS), Malaysia's first nationalist women organisation and a prominent Malay leader of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM). She was the grandmother of Jamaliah Jamaluddin, Member of the Selangor State Executive Council (EXCO) and Member of the Selangor State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Bandar Utama.
The Parti Melayu Semangat 46 or Spirit of 46 Malay Party (S46) was a Malaysian political party. The party was formed in 1988, and dissolved in 1996. It was formed by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's "Team B" faction of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), as a challenge to prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and UMNO.
Cik Dat bin Anjang Abdullah, commonly known as Abdullah CD, was a Malaysian politician who served as chairman and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM).
Dr. M. K. Rajakumar was a Malaysian doctor and socialist politician. As a doctor, he was a pioneer of the discipline of Family Medicine by general practitioners in Malaysia. As a leftist intellectual he was among the leaders of the Labour Party of Malaya and Barisan Sosialis in the 1960s, helping to build the Labour Party alongside Tan Chee Khoon, V. David and Ishak Haji Muhammad.
Angkatan Wanita Sedar was the first nationalist women's organisation in Malaysia. It was established in 1946 as women's wing of the Malay Nationalist Party. Aishah Ghani was the first president of AWAS. The organisation was also led by Shamsiah Fakeh. At its peak, AWAS had a membership of 2000 women. The group organised, held discussions and hosted Indonesian women visitors. AWAS members, led by Sakinah Junid, participated in a six-mile protest march against the British prohibition disallowing the use of motorised vehicles in processions.
The Malayan Peoples' Socialist Front or better known as Socialist Front (SF) or Barisan Sosialis (BS) was a left-wing coalition of Malaysian socialist parties. It was among the longest-standing opposition coalitions in Malaysian general election history. The coalition was formed by Parti Rakyat Malaya (PRM) and the Labour Party of Malaya on Hari Merdeka in 1957. In 1964, the National Convention Party (NCP) joined the coalition. PRM left the coalition in 1965 and NCP soon become inactive. The Labour Party, the only remaining party in SF, abandoned it on 10 January 1966 and reverted to its own banner.
Parti Marhaen Malaysia (PMM) was a left-wing party formed by Ahmad Boestamam.
Malaysian Social Justice Party or (PEKEMAS) was a political party formed by Tan Chee Khoon and Syed Hussein Alatas in 1972. On 19 July 1974, Parti Marhaen Malaysia merged with the party. The party was dissolved in 1982.
The Indonesian Malaysians are Malaysian citizens of Indonesian ancestry. Today, there are many Malaysian Malays who have lineage from the Indonesian archipelago and have played an important role in the history and contributed to the development of Malaysia, they have been assimilated with other Malay communities and are grouped as part of the foreign Malays or anak dagang in terms of race. The Malaysian census does not categorize ethnic groups from the Indonesian archipelago as a separate ethnic group, but rather as Malay or Bumiputera.
Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya (PKMM), also known as the Malay Nationalist Party, was founded on 17 October 1945 in Ipoh, Perak. The party was the first Malay political party formed after the Japanese occupation of Malaya.
Kassim Ahmad was a Malaysian Muslim philosopher, intellectual, writer, poet and an educator. He was also a socialist politician in the early days of Malaya and later Malaysia and was detained without trial from 1976 to 1981 under Malaysia's Internal Security Act.
Dr Syed Husin Ali is a retired academic and politician who served as president of the left-wing Parti (Sosialis) Rakyat Malaysia. He is also a prominent political detainee, who was held for six years without trial under Malaysia's Internal Security Act, from 1974 to 1980. Following the merger of Parti Rakyat Malaysia with Parti Keadilan Nasional, he held the position of deputy president of the merged entity Parti Keadilan Rakyat from 2003 to 2010. He also served two terms in Malaysia's Senate from 2009 to 2015.
Tan Kai Hee was a notable figure in Malaysia who was firstly a socialist politician and political prisoner. After many years of detention without trial, he returned to civilian life and started a traditional medicine business Hai-O which made him a multi-millionaire. He continued to fund a number of progressive causes through philanthropy.
The Minangkabau Malaysians are citizens of the Malaysia whose ancestral roots are from Minangkabau of central Sumatra. This includes people born in the Malaysia who are of Minangkabau origin as well as Minangkabau who have migrated to Malaysia. Today, Minangkabau comprise about 989,000 people in Malaysia, and Malaysian law considers most of them to be Malays. They are majority in urban areas, which has traditionally had the highest education and a strong entrepreneurial spirit. The history of the Minangkabau migration to Malay peninsula has been recorded to have lasted a very long time. When the means of transportation were still using the ships by down the rivers and crossing the strait, many Minang people migrated to various regions such as Negeri Sembilan, Malacca, Penang, Kedah, Perak, and Pahang. Some scholars noted that the arrival of the Minangkabau to the Malay Peninsula occurred in the 12th century. This ethnic group moved in to peninsula at the height of the Sultanate of Malacca, and maintains the Adat Perpatih of matrilineal kinships system in Negeri Sembilan and north Malacca.
